The National Guild of Hypnotists requires its members to conform to the following ethical principles, and shall hold members accountable for any departure from them.

A. Client Welfare: Members shall make the physical and mental well-being of each client a prime consideration.

B. Client Safety: Members shall not engage in verbal, physical or sexual abuse of any client and shall not discriminate against any client on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.

C. Practice Limits: Members shall use hypnotism strictly within the limits of their training and competence and in conformity to the laws of their state.

D. Advertising: Members shall be truthful in their advertising.

E. Credentials: Members shall always be honest about the nature of their titles and degrees when referring to them to the general public, the media, and within the confines of our profession.

F. Complementary Practice: Members shall neither diagnose, treat nor prescribe for clients regarding issues related to medical or mental health conditions. Members shall work with clients only with the intent to enhance the client's own natural restorative and coping abilities, and will make no therapeutic claims.

G. Reasonable Practice: Members shall withhold non-referred hypnotic services if a client’s behavior, appearance or statements would lead a reasonable person to believe that the client should be evaluated by a licensed health care professional. Members shall provide services to such clients only after evaluation and with the approval of the licensed health care professional.

H. Colleagues: Members shall treat hypnotist colleagues without public defamation.

I. Frivolous Complaints: Members shall not file frivolous or mischief-making complaints against other members for reasons of personal animosity, romantic, marital or child custody disputes, or to gain political or business advantage. Filing an ethical complaint against another member in bad faith shall be grounds for dismissal from the National Guild of Hypnotists.

In order to become a member of the NGH, you need to attend at least 100 hours of classroom, in person training from an NGH Certified Instructor (CI). In order to maintain membership in good standing, NGH Members must continue to stay up-to-date with training (15 hours per calendar year) and need to follow a common sense, professional code of ethics.

The International Certification Board of Clinical Hypnotherapy is a worldwide hypnosis association organization. It was created to set international standards of excellence, and to promote clinical hypnotherapy and related fields of social science. Our broadest goals are to insure quality hypnosis training opportunities and help enhance the standing of clinical hypnotherapy. Our narrower focus is to assist individuals and organizations in being recognized for achieving a level of quality within the field of hypnotherapy.